EMX125

(KEGUMS) Latvia, 7 May 2017 - The first results in Latvia came from the EMX250 and EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing championships. New Zealander Josiah Natzke and Frenchman Brian Strubhart Moreau were the 2 crowned winners both of them for the first time in 2017 season.

Hitachi KTM UK’s Josiah Natzke took control of the first race of the 3rd round early leading every lap, creating a gap, and then cruising to a comfortable race win. Race 2 started out front but wisely settled for second to claim the overall. During today's Press Conference he stated: “I got the holeshot in Race 1 and I had a nice gap with Jago behind me, then he went down which created a nice comfortable lead and I really don’t know what happened, I was just able to grow the lead out each lap, it was the perfect race. It’s a pretty great feeling.”

Finishing behind Natzke was the Italian Morgan Lesiardo aboard his #44 KTM. Lesiardo took second in the first race after making several passes. Then in Race 2 he would both start and finish in 3rd. The combined results gave him the 2nd overall but more importantly the points lead and the red plate.

Sahkar KTM’s Jago Geerts was battling up front in race one but eventually finished in 5th. The night to think over what could have been fueled Geerts into winning Race 2 were he passed race one and overall winner Natzke.

F&H Racing’s Ruben Fernandez was 2nd the majority of Race 1 until being passed by Lesiardo. His 3-7 results placed him 4th overall.

The last of the top 5 was Carglass Honda Racing’s Jed Beaton who rode very well in Race 2 on his way to 4th after his 8th in race one.

Last race’s winner Miro Sihvonen remains second in the championship after missing this weekend’s race due to an injury.

EMX250 Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Josiah Natzke (NZL, KTM), 31:04.176; 2. Morgan Lesiardo (ITA, KTM), +0:05.166; 3. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Kawasaki), +0:08.087; 4. Simone Furlotti (ITA, Yamaha), +0:14.329; 5. Jago Geerts (BEL, KTM), +0:18.799; 6. Alberto Forato (ITA, Honda), +0:22.116; 7. Zachary Pichon (FRA, Suzuki), +0:27.817; 8. Jed Beaton (AUS, Honda), +0:28.518; 9. Karlis Sabulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:33.721; 10. Ken Bengtson (SWE, Yamaha), +0:37.626.

EMX250 Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Jago Geerts (BEL, KTM), 29:36.657; 2. Josiah Natzke (NZL, KTM), +0:05.260; 3. Morgan Lesiardo (ITA, KTM), +0:08.879; 4. Jed Beaton (AUS, Honda), +0:14.346; 5. Alberto Forato (ITA, Honda), +0:22.441; 6. Ken Bengtson (SWE, Yamaha), +0:30.024; 7. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Kawasaki), +0:31.346; 8. Jere Haavisto (FIN, KTM), +0:44.572; 9. Todd Kellett (GBR, Husqvarna), +0:47.446; 10. Michael Sandner (AUT, KTM), +0:58.925.

EMX250 Overall Top 10: 1. Josiah Natzke (NZL, KTM), 47 points; 2. Morgan Lesiardo (ITA, KTM), 42 p.; 3. Jago Geerts (BEL, KTM), 41 p.; 4. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, KAW), 34 p.; 5. Jed Beaton (AUS, HON), 31 p.; 6. Alberto Forato (ITA, HON), 31 p.; 7. Ken Bengtson (SWE, YAM), 26 p.; 8. Simone Furlotti (ITA, YAM), 23 p.; 9. Todd Kellett (GBR, HUS), 18 p.; 10. Kim Savaste (FIN, KAW), 16 p.

EMX250 Championship Top 10: 1. Morgan Lesiardo (ITA, KTM), 112 points; 2. Miro Sihvonen (FIN, KTM), 90 p.; 3. Simone Furlotti (ITA, YAM), 86 p.; 4. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, KAW), 74 p.; 5. Nick Kouwenberg (NED, YAM), 73 p.; 6. Ken Bengtson (SWE, YAM), 69 p.; 7. Karlis Sabulis (LAT, YAM), 66 p.; 8. Jago Geerts (BEL, KTM), 64 p.; 9. Alberto Forato (ITA, HON), 63 p.; 10. Jed Beaton (AUS, HON), 54 p.

EMX250 Manufacturers: 1. KTM, 143 points; 2. Yamaha, 118 p.; 3. Kawasaki, 107 p.; 4. Honda, 83 p.; 5. Husqvarna, 63 p.; 6. Suzuki, 28 p.

With a massive list of entries BUD Racing Monster Energy’s Brian Strubhart Moreau was the fastest competitor this weekend after he went by Gianluca Facchetti for the race 1 win on lap 6 and did the same in race 2 to Sergi Notario. Moreau was very satisfied in today's press conference: “I'm very happy because this is my first win in EMX125, it feels good for me to win here.”

Creymert Racing’s Kevin Horgmo took the second spot on the overall podium. Horgmo moved from 3rd to second in Race 1 and from 6th to 4th in race 2. Horgmo is also now 3rd in the points.

Jezyk Racing Team’s Sergi Notario rebounded from a 10th in Race 1 to 2nd in Race 2. Notario took 4th in both Valkenswaard races and his 3rd overall here in Latvia positions him 4th in the championship standings.

Yamaha Europe EMX125’s Thibault Benistant became the second French rider in the top five with 4th overall thanks to his consistent 5-5 finishes.

Isaak Gifting took the remaining top five spot in the EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing overall classification also due to his consistency. Gifting finished 6-6 for 5th overall and a combined 30 points out the 50 possible.

EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Brian Strubhart Moreau (FRA, Kawasaki), 30:34.834; 2. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KTM), +0:03.279; 3. Gianluca Facchetti (ITA, Husqvarna), +0:11.331; 4. Matteo Puccinelli (ITA, KTM), +0:17.079; 5. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:19.540; 6. Isak Gifting (SWE, KTM), +0:33.115; 7. Jeremy Sydow (GER, KTM), +0:35.336; 8. Marcel Stauffer (AUT, KTM), +0:38.066; 9. Andrea Zanotti (SMR, KTM), +0:42.255; 10. Sergi Notario (ESP, KTM), +0:44.618.

EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Brian Strubhart Moreau (FRA, Kawasaki), 29:48.522; 2. Sergi Notario (ESP, KTM), +0:04.627; 3. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Husqvarna), +0:08.353; 4. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KTM), +0:09.745; 5. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:11.975; 6. Isak Gifting (SWE, KTM), +0:13.615; 7. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, TM), +0:40.134; 8. Filip Olsson (SWE, Husqvarna), +0:46.394; 9. Marcel Stauffer (AUT, KTM), +0:46.930; 10. Rene Hofer (AUT, KTM), +0:47.847.

EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing Overall Top 10: 1. Brian Strubhart Moreau (FRA, KAW), 50 points; 2. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KTM), 40 p.; 3. Sergi Notario (ESP, KTM), 33 p.; 4. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 32 p.; 5. Isak Gifting (SWE, KTM), 30 p.; 6. Marcel Stauffer (AUT, KTM), 25 p.; 7. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, HUS), 24 p.; 8. Gianluca Facchetti (ITA, HUS), 24 p.; 9. Rene Hofer (AUT, KTM), 21 p.; 10. Filip Olsson (SWE, HUS), 19 p.

EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing Championship Top 10: 1. Brian Strubhart Moreau (FRA, KAW), 92 points; 2. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, HUS), 74 p.; 3. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KTM), 71 p.; 4. Sergi Notario (ESP, KTM), 69 p.; 5. Gianluca Facchetti (ITA, ARC), 55 p.; 6. Tim Edberg (SWE, YAM), 49 p.; 7. Rene Hofer (AUT, KTM), 44 p.; 8. Paolo Lugana (ITA, TM), 40 p.; 9. Alessandro Manucci (ITA, HUS), 36 p.; 10. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 33 p.

EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing Manufacturers: 1. Kawasaki, 92 points; 2. Husqvarna, 90 p.; 3. KTM, 82 p.; 4. Yamaha, 68 p.; 5. TM, 45 p.; 6. Suzuki, 9 p.

NEXT ROUND

The next round of the European Championships EMX250 as well as the the third round of the EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing will be held on May, the 28th in Ernèe, for the MXGP of France

Click here to obtain the complete results

All the photos of the MXGP of Latvia will be available here

MXGP of Latvia – QUICK FACTS

Circuit length: 1540m

Type of ground: Hard Sand

Temperature: 14°C

Weather conditions: cloudy

Weekend Crowd Attendance: 29,000

MXGP was available across the board in high definition and is also globally available to view live and in HD on MXGP-TV.com. Click here for the complete list of countries and cooperating MXGP broadcasting networks.

LINKS

Youthstream

FIM Europe

MXGP of Latvia

(VALKENSWAARD) Netherlands, 23 April 2017 - The first round of the European Championship EMX125 presented by FMF Racing and the second round of the European Championship EMX250 finished up this morning on the dark sand of Valkenswaard. With over 170 entries between the two classes, KTM DIGA Junior Racing’s Miro Sihvonen was the best rider on the track in EMX250 and Ice One Racing Husqvarna’s Mikkel Haarup was by far the fastest of the 125cc riders, both scored the overall with 1-1 results.

One week after his third place podium finish in Trentino KTM DIGA Junior Racing’s Miro Sihvonen started race 1 in 6th but he made several passes including the most important one on F&H Racing Team’s Ruben Fernandez for the lead with only two laps remaining, Fernandez kept Sihvonen in sight but he finished 2nd. In Race 2 Sihvonen won again but Fernandez finished 25th scoring no championship points and placing 8th overall.

Dutch rider Nick Kouwenberg placed 3rd in Race 1 after starting in 7th passing several riders including Round of Trentino’s Race 2 winner, Morgan Lesiardo. Race 2 started slightly better for Kouwenberg, he was 5th on the first lap and again he made some passes to get himself to 3rd. Kouwenberg’s impressive 3-3 were consistent enough for second overall in front of his home crowd.

Morgan Lesiardo’s 4th in race 1 was his better finish of the two races with a 10th in race 2. The 4-10 surprisingly secured him the podium being the third best results in the class.

Nichlas Bjerregaard and iFly JK Racing’s Ken Bengtson were another example of how consistency pays off. The two didn’t necessarily have any remarkable race performances but their ability to place in the top ten twice in one weekend is proving to be a feat of its own. Bengtson’s 6th and 9th put him 4th overall and Bjerregaard’s 10-7 achieved the 5th overall.

Last week’s winner Yamaha SM Action’s Simone Furlotti is now third in the points after finishing 11th overall going 18-6 here at Valkenswaard.

Another member of the top 5 riders in the championship is ASTES4-Tesar Yamaha’s Karlis Sabulis. Sabulis was 5th in race 1 but he had issues in race 2 where he scored no points and finished 22nd.

Last year’s EMX 300 Presented by FMF Racing Champion, GL12 Racing’s Mike Kras also struggled scoring a consistent result. The two-stroke rider placed a disappointing 20th in Race 1 before his impressive rebound in race 2 to 5th for 12th overall.

Sahkar KTM Racing’s Belgian rider, Jago Geerts, had scored only 1 point after the first 3 races until he flew into a 2nd place in Race 2 scoring 22 points and putting himself into 14th in the championship.

EMX250 Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Miro Sihvonen (FIN, KTM), 30:39.344; 2. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Kawasaki), +0:03.333; 3. Nick Kouwenberg (NED, Yamaha), +0:11.367; 4. Morgan Lesiardo (ITA, KTM), +0:16.290; 5. Karlis Sabulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:18.776; 6. Ken Bengtson (SWE, Yamaha), +0:20.638; 7. Mel Pocock (GBR, Husqvarna), +0:35.202; 8. Jere Haavisto (FIN, KTM), +0:37.629; 9. Alberto Forato (ITA, Honda), +0:39.798; 10. Nichlas Bjerregaard (DEN, Yamaha), +0:46.678.

EMX250 Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Miro Sihvonen (FIN, KTM), 29:26.087; 2. Jago Geerts (BEL, KTM), +0:03.837; 3. Nick Kouwenberg (NED, Yamaha), +0:05.257; 4. Michael Eccles (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:15.062; 5. Mike Kras (NED, KTM), +0:22.491; 6. Simone Furlotti (ITA, Yamaha), +0:24.651; 7. Nichlas Bjerregaard (DEN, Yamaha), +0:25.054; 8. Marshal Weltin (USA, Kawasaki), +0:28.402; 9. Ken Bengtson (SWE, Yamaha), +0:31.777; 10. Morgan Lesiardo (ITA, KTM), +0:40.587

EMX250 Overall Top 10: 1. Miro Sihvonen (FIN, KTM), 50 points; 2. Nick Kouwenberg (NED, YAM), 40 p.; 3. Morgan Lesiardo (ITA, KTM), 29 p.; 4. Ken Bengtson (SWE, YAM), 27 p.; 5. Nichlas Bjerregaard (DEN, YAM), 25 p.; 6. Mel Pocock (GBR, HUS), 23 p.; 7. Jago Geerts (BEL, KTM), 22 p.; 8. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, KAW), 22 p.; 9. Marshal Weltin (USA, KAW), 21 p.; 10. Michael Eccles (GBR, KAW), 18 p.

EMX250 Championship Top 10: 1. Miro Sihvonen (FIN, KTM), 90 points; 2. Morgan Lesiardo (ITA, KTM), 70 p.; 3. Simone Furlotti (ITA, YAM), 63 p.; 4. Nick Kouwenberg (NED, YAM), 63 p.; 5. Karlis Sabulis (LAT, YAM), 54 p.; 6. Ken Bengtson (SWE, YAM), 43 p.; 7. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, KAW), 40 p.; 8. Nichlas Bjerregaard (DEN, YAM), 34 p.; 9. Alberto Forato (ITA, HON), 32 p.; 10. Mel Pocock (GBR, HUS), 31 p.

EMX250 Manufacturers: 1. KTM, 93 points; 2. Yamaha, 85 p.; 3. Kawasaki, 73 p.; 4. Honda, 50 p.; 5. Husqvarna, 42 p.; 6. Suzuki, 14 p

At the first round of the European Championship EMX125 presented by FMF Racing, Ice One Racing Husqvarna’s Mikkel Haarup had two impressive races over the two days, with a pair of decent starts he moved into the lead quickly during both races. He won race 1 on Saturday by over 13 seconds and on Sunday doubled his gap to win by 26 seconds.

Behind Haarup in race 1 it was Tim Edberg who battled with BUD Racing Monster Energy’s Brian Strubhart Moreau in which Edberg came out ahead.

Sunday was not as fortunate for Edberg though as he would instead battle for 6th with Alessandro Manucci all the way to the finish. Manucci finished 7th over but ended up holding off Edberg and denying him of the final spot on the podium which would instead go to Jesyk Racing Team’s Sergi Notario.

Moreau however improved his 3rd place finish from Saturday to a hard fought 2nd today. Moreau was in a race of his own for second the first half of Race 2 but was later pressured by Creymert Racing’s Kevin Horgmo, the battle for second was fierce but Horgmo couldn’t find a way past and eventually he finished 3rd, combined with his 10th on Saturday Horgmo rounded out the top 5 with 5th overall.

Last year Gianluca Facchetti finished 4th in the championship, he now leaves this weekend with a 6 overall result after 6th Saturday and 5th today. Facchetti was 5th on the first lap of race 2 before being passed by Horgmo, he later found his way back into the top 5 when he got fellow Italian Manucci on lap 6.

2016 EMX85cc Champion Rene Hofer finished 9th in Race 1 and looked like he was going to improve on the result in race 2 as he had a strong ride and battled for 7th. Hofer made an error and went down where he struggled to get going again, he eventually picked himself up in 12th before fighting his back to a 10th place finish, good enough for 9th overall.

2016 Honda EMX150 Champion and now JTECH Suzuki Valenti rider Emil Weckmann didn’t have the weekend he was hoping for, the 125cc rookie finished a decent 13th in Race 1 but his 21st place today put him 17th overall.

EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Husqvarna), 28:55.139; 2. Tim Edberg (SWE, Yamaha), +0:13.601; 3. Brian Strubhart Moreau (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:22.108; 4. Sergi Notario (ESP, KTM), +0:31.050; 5. Alessandro Manucci (ITA, Husqvarna), +0:34.445; 6. Gianluca Facchetti (ITA, Husqvarna), +0:35.091; 7. Jeremy Sydow (GER, KTM), +0:35.641; 8. Paolo Lugana (ITA, TM), +0:43.808; 9. Rene Hofer (AUT, KTM), +0:45.507; 10. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KTM), +0:45.908.

EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Husqvarna), 29:55.247; 2. Brian Strubhart Moreau (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:26.081; 3. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KTM), +0:30.995; 4. Sergi Notario (ESP, KTM), +0:46.842; 5. Gianluca Facchetti (ITA, Husqvarna), +0:59.415; 6. Alessandro Manucci (ITA, Husqvarna), +1:03.178; 7. Tim Edberg (SWE, Yamaha), +1:03.595; 8. Paolo Lugana (ITA, TM), +1:09.768; 9. Viking Lindstrom (SWE, KTM), +1:10.503; 10. Rene Hofer (AUT, KTM), +1:11.884.

EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing Overall Top 10: 1. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, HUS), 50 points; 2. Brian Strubhart Moreau (FRA, KAW), 42 p.; 3. Sergi Notario (ESP, KTM), 36 p.; 4. Tim Edberg (SWE, YAM), 36 p.; 5. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KTM), 31 p.; 6. Gianluca Facchetti (ITA, HUS), 31 p.; 7. Alessandro Manucci (ITA, HUS), 31 p.; 8. Paolo Lugana (ITA, TM), 26 p.; 9. Rene Hofer (AUT, KTM), 23 p.; 10. Viking Lindstrom (SWE, KTM), 22 p.

EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing Championship Top 10: 1. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, HUS), 50 points; 2. Brian Strubhart Moreau (FRA, KAW), 42 p.; 3. Sergi Notario (ESP, KTM), 36 p.; 4. Tim Edberg (SWE, YAM), 36 p.; 5. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KTM), 31 p.; 6. Gianluca Facchetti (ITA, HUS), 31 p.; 7. Alessandro Manucci (ITA, HUS), 31 p.; 8. Paolo Lugana (ITA, TM), 26 p.; 9. Rene Hofer (AUT, KTM), 23 p.; 10. Viking Lindstrom (SWE, KTM), 22 p.

EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing Manufacturers: 1. Husqvarna, 50 points; 2. Kawasaki, 42 p.; 3. KTM, 38 p.; 4. Yamaha, 36 p.; 5. TM, 26 p.; 6. Suzuki, 8 p.

NEXT ROUND

The next round of the European Championships EMX250 as well as the the second round of the EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing will be held in 2 week time in Kegums, for the MXGP of Latvia

Click here to obtain the complete results

All the photos of the MXGP of Europe will be available here

MXGP of EUROPE – QUICK FACTS

Circuit length: 1550m

Type of ground: Sand

Temperature: 14°C

Weather conditions: varied

Weekend Crowd Attendance: 26,000

MXGP was available across the board in high definition and is also globally available to view live and in HD on MXGP-TV.com. Click here for the complete list of countries and cooperating MXGP broadcasting networks.

LINKS

Youthstream

FIM Europe

MXGP of Europe

VALKENSWAARD (The Netherlands), 21 April 2017 – As the 2017 FIM Motocross World Championship takes to the demanding dark sand of Valkenswaard so to will the season opener of the EMX125 class Presented by FMF Racing. With FMF Racing renewing is presenting sponsorship of both the EMX125 and EMX300 classes, it clearly shows, once again, its support for the top level of two stroke racing in Europe.

FMF, Flying Machine Factory, is a world leader in aftermarket power exhaust systems for dirt bikes and ATV’s, and was set up in 1973 by a youthful twenty-two year old by the name of Donny Emler, a typical Southern California native who like everybody else in the seventies found the urge to ride and race dirt bikes simply irresistible. While FMF’s bread and butter have be taken care of on home turf in America you may have noticed their presence gain traction in MXGP over the past few years, not only as a series partner but also as team sponsors with Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing as one of the main beneficiaries.

You can sense the 2-stroke thing is something the team at FMF still feels passionately about, which is no surprise considering that two of FMF’s biggest advocates are the biggest 2-stroke fans; the boss himself and a former 250cc world champion, Danny LaPorte.

David Luongo, Youthstream Vice-President and Head of Operations stated: “It has always been our target to maintain and to develop the two-stroke series! They are so important for our sport, for the development of the young riders. Today we can see that the two-strokes live a very good moment and the success of the EMX125cc and the EMX300cc classes are proof of it. We are glad that one of the strongest American  motocross companies, FMF Racing, shares the same vision as us and strengthen its support in such categories, which are very fun to watch and to listen to.”

Don Emler Jr, FMF Racing’s Marketing Director said: “Two-Strokes are easy to work on, inexpensive to own and a blast to ride. That’s why at FMF Racing we still ride every chance we get and support those that help promote the 2-stroke movement. The feedback we have received on working with the MXGP 2-Stroke classes has been phenomenal and shows our steadfast dedication to supporting the sport.”

Two-Stroke racing is a main focus of Youthstream, with full backing of FIM Europe. Both entities strongly believe in the crucial role two-strokes play in the development of the young riders in preparation for the jump to the big, more challenging, and more powerful four-stroke motorcycles. Since their inception both classes have become increasingly popular, offering highly entertaining racing. The EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing class was first kickstarted in 2011 and has since been an important step taken before the World Championship, riders such as the 2016 MXGP champion and red plate holder Tim Gajser along with 2015 MX2 vice World Champion and current MX2 points leader Pauls Jonass have raced in the class among many others.

Both championships have attracted increasing attention and interest over the years with the EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing class receiving near 100 entries for the opening round this weekend. The EMX300 Presented by FMF Racing class will have its first race alongside the MXGP of Germany in Teutschenthal.

You can follow FMF at @fmf73 on social media channels or visit www.fmfracing.com

LINKS

Youthstream

FIM

FIM Europe

FMF Racing

MXGP of Europe

If you’ve ever been to watch MXGP live then you would almost certainly have seen the EMX125 and EMX250 Championship riders in action as well and you will more than likely agree with us that the depth of racing talent is phenomenal and better than it has ever been. The EMX125 and 250 classes in particular provide the fans with some of the most intense and best racing of the weekend and soon enough the riders will graduate to MX2 or MXGP where they will one day compete on the world stage. This years EMX champions were Jago Geerts from Belgium and Thomas Kjer Olsen and here’s why.

Read the complete feature from the MXGP Mag #39 HERE